Engine starting mechanism



D. M. BERGES ENGINE STARTING MEGHANISM July '9,' 1940.

Filed June 2, 1939 ill sl Il! .ML mi Patented July9, 1940 ENGINE STARTING uncnANrsM' Doana M, Bem, Alpine, N.` J., assignmu'i Bendix Aviation NCorporation.

South Bend,

Ind., a corporation of Delaware Application June 2, 1939, ASerial No. 277,063

3 Claims.

5 driving elements, for momentum or inertia producing purposes, in advance of establishment of torque transmitting connection between said driving elements and the engine crankshaft,y The establishment of such'connection is commonly referred to as meshing."

Where the meshing is brought about through the agency of linkage, the actuation of said linkage-whether manually or electro-magnetically induced-requires expenditure o! considerable energy as itis necessary to overpower a comparatively sturdy opposing element such as, for example, Aa 'torsion spring similar'to the one. in-

dicated by reference numeral |06 in Fig. 4 of the drawings of Patent No.1,833 ,948 granted Dec. 1,1931.

In electromagnetically induced meshing-as .in

the Lansing patent above identiiled--the cur'- rent drawn by the electro-magnet is consider- 35 able, for the reasons above indicated; and `where l the meshingis'manually s quired is correspondinglyhigh. ,i

vAnv object of the present invention is .to prot, vide, in afstarter' ci'l the character indicated, a

40. novel method of meshing, involving utilization of previously stored energy to Aproduce the meshing 't move1nent,'underv thecontrol of the operator as tothetimefof such meshing movement, whereby `rthere is secured the advantageof vdelayed mesh-H ing'f'(t`o1 permit ythel building up Aof inertia or momentum)` but without the necessityA of intro- Y f ducing a separate s such delayed meshing;

i Another object isu to providednovel'A meshing Iinertial.starter of character 50'1means for an indicated;v`v l v `Affurth'er object is to Fprovide novel meansfor :converting rotary into"'rectilir'iear; movement, to produce corresponding rectilinear movement of 55. `theengine-engaging memberlj' f The purpose of this opposing spring,` or its eilected, j. the eilortl reource 'ofl energy to produce Another object is to provide meshing mechanism that can be operated electro-magnetically or by hand, at the choice of the operator.

'Ihese and other objects of the invention will become apparent from inspection "of the follow- 5 ing speciiication when read with reference to the v accompanying drawing wherein is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawing is for the purpose .of illustration only, and is l0 not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims for this purpose.

In the drawing,'the single figure is a view, partly in elevation, partly in section, and partly l5 schematic, of `the invention as applied to an engine starting mechanism of the inertia type.

Referring principally to Fi'g. 1, there is shown therein a built-up starter housing, including a flywheel containing section 5, intermediate sections 6 and 1, and a forward section 8, the latter providedwith a flange 9 to register with a cor responding ange Il on the engineA crankcase, and to receive mounting bolts I2 for attachment of the starter to the engine, in such position that clutch element i3 of the starter may 'ex'igagef-yI that is, mesh with-correspondingly shaped engine member I4 to impart initial rotarymovement to thefengine crankshafaor an extension thereof, indicated at I6, lthe method of producing suchv meshing movement of the member v`i3 being one of the features of the present invention, as above noted. f

In addition to electrical means for acceleration of ywheel l-such electrical meansbeing shown diagrammatically in* the form of an electric motor M, which in lpractice is usually` disposed adjacent housing section @with itsfrotor Adrivably connected toi'lywheel I8' by` meansnot shown, but wellflrno'tm'in` the art-,the starter 40 I preferably'includes a manually'operable,accelerating means in the forrnofw'a,shaft 2i adapted to receive afhandcrankfn'o shown) ,fait its outer end. Said Shft 2| ,beif di,s'pcsiefi` with.' i its .L axis vtrans'verse'to the axis off"r'otatirio,fv flywheel i8, 45

and, with its ,inerlfend fdirliflblY.,l Connected f Saidjywheelby" Way 01'.. inter'vrig Spe'r1-f'mu1- jtiplyingmgea'rs not shjown}corresponding to those4 ,wmhprdrivably -vanneicv che ",hqmologous partsA andffi ,4 Qtxmblef'ih'Ptent INo. 50 "1,962,398 granted/to Rayind .P., lLai`si ng, on ,J une 11,141,934, y and illustrative fof'.l a widely "used typen!l inertia starter, nich'. sf'iiessnt inventio is'zappliable* the as in the Lansing -patentabove identified, the clutch actuating rod 24 of thev present disclosure continues rearwardly through the hub 2|| of nywheel I6 to receive on its screw-threaded end 26 a correspondingly threaded nut 21 against which abuts the flange 26 formed on the rod 24 at the point where the screw threads terminate. On its Houter surface the nut 21 is longitudinally grooved to form splines adapted to register with corresponding splines 29 of outer shell 3| of the mesh controlling assembly. As shown, this outer shell has an end portion 32 formed as a ball-race for balls 33 and cooperatingwith the complementary ball-race '34 which nts within a recess in the end portion 36 of housing section 5, and thereby facilitates free rotation of shell 3| with nut 21 and rod 24, the latter being splined or equivalently related to the clutch element I8, as indicated at 36, and therefore rotatable with said clutch element during, the initial (ywheelaccelerating) stage of operation. Y i

Means are provided for arresting the rotation of shell 3| at the conclusin of the flywheel accelerating stage of operation, whereby motion translation'may occur as between nit 2l and screw portion 26 of rod 24, to produce longitudinal movement of the latter -Jand'thus move clutch element I3 into the forward (engine-cranking) position. As shown, this mesh-producing control means includes a brake-shoe 4| having a broad, concave, cylindrical surface for engagement with the corresponding cylindrical outer surface o f shell 3 I, and a shank`42 terminating in a head 43 whose neck-portion receives a spring arm 44 which, due to the anchorage of its other end on the housing end portion 36, tends to hold the brake 4I disengaged from shell 3|; the brake shank 42 being slldable in a guide-bracket 46 integrated with said housing portion 36. Alsointeg'rated with said housing portion 36 .is a rockpin 41 adapted topivotally support a rocker 46 whose inner end 49 abuts head 43 of the brake assembly, and whose outer end receives a part 5| o fthe actuating llnkage.- This actuating linkage is shown as including a bell-crank 52, pivotally mounted from housing bracket 53, and afrod 54 having a magnetic portion 56 and a hand-grip portion 51, the latter being for manual operation of the brake 4| and the former being for remote control by way of switch contacts 6|, 62 and solenoid 63, of which member 56 constitutes the magnetic plunger or core.

The operation of the device is as follows:

Assuming manual acceleration of flywheel I6 is desired, the operator rotaues the hand-cranked shaft 2|, and this motion is transmitted through gears (within housing se tion 6) to the ywheel I6, wherefore the latte is rotated for storage of starting (and meshin energy therein. `Rotation of these gears is accompanied by vproportionate rotation of clutch element I3, as in the l aforesaid 'Lansing Patent 1,962,398;

but said .clutch elementJis maintained out of driving engagement with the engine member |4 by the action of opposing spring 66 upon ange 23 of the mesh-rod 24-it being understood that' nut 6,5on the'clutch-Jaw end of rod 24 prevents forward motion of clutch ja'w I3, longitudinally, unless and until rod 24 itself is caused to move longitudinally, during the second stage of operation, now to be described.

In the second stage of operation rod 64 is moved to the right-either by actuation of handgrip 51 or by moving hand-switch 10 to cause current to -ow from source 1I through contacts 6| and 62 to the solenoid 63. In either case the result will be to cause rocker arm 46 to swing in ..a clockwise direction, as viewed, (overcoming the opposition of spring 15) and cause application of brake-shoe I4| to shell 3|. The resulting cessation of rotation of nut 21 will produce a jacking action upon screw-threads 26 of rod 24, to urge said rod in a leftward direction and thereby produce engine-engaging movement of clutch element i3, by way of rod shoulder 16, screw 11,*and the spring .16, (corresponding respectively to parts 31, 35 and 36 of the aforesaid Lansing Pat'- ent 1,962,398). The energy stored in the ywheel-minus that consumed in the "jacking action just described-is now transferred to the engine; and as spring 60 limits the forward travel of rod 24, the latter will resume its rotational movement, carrying nut 21 and shell 3| around with it during the remainder of the cranking n cycle--the brake 4| being insumcient to restrain the rotation of the parts after the limited longitudial movement required for .meshing has been -completed.

lTo employ motor `M as the flywheel accelerating means, in lieu of manuallyioperable shaft 2|,'the operator may utilize the same source pf-current as for energization of solenoid 63, and the motor control switch contacts 66 may be bridged by remotely disposed control, to permit use'of a short heavy cable from source 1| to said switch contacts 80, and the installation of said switch in l proximity to the motor housing. To'this end there is provided a second solenoid 82 energizable to closeI switch 60, 8|, the ilow of current to said solenoid being by way of normally open contacts 6,6, in shunt with the contacts 6|, and bridgeable bythe same manually operable contact maker 62 as are the said contacts 6I, athough the said contactvmakerl 62 is normally disposed in an intermediate position of non-engagement `with either ythe set 6I or the set 66.

What I claim is: j 1. In an engine starter, in combination, an engine-engaging member, a mesh rod rotatable therewith, means including a part surrounding said mesh rod for normally opposing movement of said engine-engaging member to engine-engaging position, and means including a motion translating element mounted upon and initially rotatable with said mesh rod for producing movement of said engine-engaging member to engineengagingposition, 'said last-named means further including means permanently separated from said mesh rod for retardIng rotation of said motion translating elemetand thereby inducing mesh-producing movement of said mesh rod.

2. In an engine starter, in combination, an engine-engaging member, a mesh rod rotatable therewith, means including a part surrounding said meshy rod for normally opposing movement of said engine-engaging member to engine-engaging position, means including amotion translating element mounted upon and initially rotatable with said mesh rod for producing movement of said engine-engaging member to engineengaging position, said last-named means further including means permanently separated from said mesh rod for retarding rotation of said motion translating element and thereby inducing mesh-producing movement of said mesh rod, and remotely4 controlled means for Aenergizing said 4retarding means.

3. In combination wltha flywheel andengineengaging member, means including co-actmg screw and nut elements, the former of which is rotatable with said engine engaging member and the latter of which is initially rotatable with the former and subsequentlg becomes effective for moving said engine-engaging ymember to engineengaging position, said means further including a brake operable to retard rotation of said nut element and thereby induce mesh producing movement of said screw element. and common means for controlling energization of said iiywheel and brake, to produce operation thereof in sequence.

DONALD M. BERGES. 

